I read a book a while ago called The Lost Apothecary, which looked at the women who worked with herbs to make people better and how they were a valuable part of society. It was such an enlightening book, and I wondered why there were not more books written about women in history.
Personally, I would love to know what the average housewife did in the Victorian era, not to mention during the war when women took on all the roles left by men. My grandmother went to work in the mill during World War II. None of these stories are shared with us.
The main reason why this aspect of history has been largely forgotten is because men write the great majority of history. Men who believe we are more interested in their history than women.
From this, we can draw an important lesson for our writing. Are we simply writing from our perspective, or are we including a range of views and perspectives? I mentioned this last week. For example, if you are writing about single parenting, write about how this experience might change whether you are the father or the mother.
Something I see many of the prominent writers forgetting this. They are all full-time writers and forget to write about how this changes if you do it as a side hustle.
I read an article from a very big-name writer on Medium who gave ideas for producing content; none was practical if you had children. They were all impossible. When I asked her the question, she had never even considered this might be different.
Don't be that writer. Writing an article that appeals to more than one type of person, this will enhance the experience for any reader, and adding value to your reader's life should be the first thing you consider when you hit publish.
I challenge you this week to take one article you are publishing and consider all the perspectives, then drop a link to it in the comments so we can all find it.
If you enjoy this email, please share it so more readers can find it.
Until next week stay safe
Sam 😊
Weekly Three
Understanding Perfectionism, Austin Kleon - Kleon reminds us with this article that sometimes you should embrace the perfectionist in all of us, and sometimes it is better to go rogue.
Explaining Humans, Dr Camilla Pang - This is a manual for surviving human interactions, especially if you are neurodivergent. As a mother to a child with ASD, I thought this would be a valuable read for me. From the first page, I was hooked:
It was five years into my life on Earth that I started to think I'd landed in the wrong place. I must have missed the stop. I felt like a stranger within my own species: someone who understood the words but couldn't speak the language; who shared an appearance with fellow humans but none of the essential characteristics.
The Book Chronicles on Threads - For all of you who follow my book content, I am only posting about books on threads. Come and give me a follow.
Quote of the week
Don’t send a poorly-written mail merge to your best prospects. Send them a handwritten note. It’s not the bottom of the funnel. It’s the foundation for your future. - Seth Godin
This is increasingly not entirely true. There have been- and still are- some talented female historians who have written detailed texts that fill in some of the gaps in masculine-dominated history. However, the men still get the lion's share of the press in the field.